West Family Investments Inc. Invests $201,000 in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

West Family Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 503 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Deere & Company Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Deere & Company stock traded up $4.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $400.87. 1,626,956 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,472,102. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $390.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $383.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.04. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $345.55 and a 1-year high of $450.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $1.04. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 44.60%. The firm had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.55 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 27.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $494.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Melius Research restated a “hold” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $445.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $433.28.

Deere & Company Profile

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.